


Souvenir

by orangeCrates



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fanworks Around the World, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 06:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6183403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangeCrates/pseuds/orangeCrates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malik and Altair are in Hong Kong for work.  But also a bit of sightseeing.</p><p>(And maybe, just maybe, Malik had something else planned even if he didn't normally do this kind of stuff.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Souvenir

**Author's Note:**

> All places mentioned do exist in Hong Kong. The light rose garden has now been taken down alas. Since I wasn't able to go see it myself I chose it as something Malik and Altair needed to see.

The thing was, Malik just wasn't the sort of person who put much thought into planning for romantic outings.

It seemed almost counter intuitive for a man who colour codes events on his calendar and never forgets to make a list when going to the grocery store didn't seem to grasp how to plan for a date.

It was a quirk of Malik's nature that Altair had come to accept over the years. In the grand scheme of their relationship, it wasn't really a problem, because Malik did show affection in his own little ways. But it meant that Altair had come to know not to expect anything very planned out from him (and to remember to make the reservations for special occasions because it will inevitably be forgotten amongst a slew of more important things on Malik's agenda). It was made up for in the way Malik would come back from the store with something Altair had mentioned wanting or needing in passing.

Even without that, though, Altair knew better than to expect anything for their anniversary this year. They were in Hong Kong for a mission, after all and the mission always came first. Besides, missing a reservation on the night important (corrupt) men died was not the sort of coincidence they needed.

So their anniversary (four years of dating as of that day) was spent in the Bank of China Tower. It was not a date, but Malik did pull him in to press a kiss against his mouth with the skyline of Hong Kong as their backdrop while they stood on the observation deck open to the public (having reached used stolen visitor passes to get through). "Be careful." He said before they split up to complete their objectives.

The day after, as the news about the death of two Abstergo executives from America was crowding every news outlet (except Asia TV which was still stuck doing reruns), they went out and did a bit of sightseeing.

"Which exit is it?" Malik asked after they'd come out of the gate on the MTR.

"I have no idea." Altair pulled out his phone, "I can check."

Gesturing at a nearby wall, Malik said, "there's a map right there." He was exasperated because Altair was only checking because back home there was never any cellphone service on the underground. "You're stupid. Stop wasting data." He grabbed Altair's hand. "I'm not paying to recharge the card."

"It's not even that expensive." Altair said, but doesn't actually fight when Malik drags him to the map to study it.

"There," he said, pointing at a labelled exit on the map, "we want exit B1."

Altair grinned, "Well, what are we waiting for, then?"

~ + ~

When they made their way to exit B1 at a leisurely pace, letting the rushing crowd pass them as they argued about nothing. They stopped briefly at the top to figure out which way to go first and, in the end, decided on the Flower Market.

Only a short walk from the MTR station (could be even shorter if they weren't pretending to be normal tourists) and they found themselves on a street full of shops selling nothing but plants. They were not new looking shops with attractively coloured walls or even elaborate displays. They were older shops that had been here for possibly decades and a store stuffed full of plants that didn't even all fit inside the store. In fac, their displays spilled onto the sidewalk area, all of them ordered on metal shelves. It made walking on the road, already crowded with people as they were, difficult.

Altair reached out to take Malik's hand. He was surprised (because public displays of affection were not a thing they practised often), but Altair only leaned down and kissed him quickly (careless of the looks and mutters that earned them). "So we don't get separated. I'd hate to lose you in a foreign country."

"Ha." Malik said, but there was no hiding the blush on his cheeks, "I should be the one saying that. You're the one who's always wandering off!"

Altair had a strange habit of bringing home plants. It was strange not so much because it seemed unexpected, but because he could kill a cactus. Malik wasn't sure what he did before they moved in together, but Malik suspected every plant he had brought home had been left to the dubious mercy of his black thumb. Now, Malik was in charge of taking care of Altair's plants and they were running out of places to put them. They were thriving under Malik's care, but the lack of space (and pots and dead plants) did not stop new ones from appearing, seemingly at random in their apartment.

In fact, if there had been a place named Flower Market Road back home, with a whole stretch of stores selling nothing but plants all along it back home, Malik would not have allowed Altair to go (if he were able to say no to him). But since they can only look and not buy, it seemed safe enough.

"What kind of flower is that?" Altair stopped to stare, "it looks like a spider."

"I have no idea." Malik shrugged, "Why don't you ask?"

Altair could speak passable Mandarin. That had not surprised Malik. What surprised him was that he spoke it better than even some of the locals (who, he learned from one of the assassins stationed here, spoke it so badly that it was a well told joke by those who do speak Mandarin and also by the locals).

Malik's phone rung just as Altair said, "maybe I will."

"Go ask, then." He said, reluctantly letting go of Altair's hand to reach for his phone, "I'll just take this."

Quite possibly, Altair didn't just ask about that one flower because he was still talking to the woman who runs the store when Malik was done. He waited for a lull in the conversation to put his hand on Altair's shoulder.

"Come on. Stop wasting her time."

~ + ~

"Did you tell whoever it was that you're not recharing the card when it's finished?" Altair asked with a laugh when Malik told him the phone call was nothing important.

Since Malik's hand was, once again, caught in Altair's, all he could do was roll his eyes. They walked the street from one end to the other, stopping every now and again to look at plants.

"We could probably take sneak some seeds back." Altair said at some point.

Malik hadn't even bothered to look at him to address the stupidity of that statement, "I'm pretty sure that's illegal, so. No."

When they were finished with the Flower Market, they took a turn to go to what, according to the map Malik had seen earlier, was the Bird Garden. It was noisy in a way the Flower Market hadn't been, full of song birds for sale and people who brought their birds there to, one assumed, mingle. The birds came in all different sizes, some of them like the sort Malik was used to seeing in pet stores back home, but some were as small as his thumb, housed in cages only as big as his head. The traditional wooden cages were mixed with newer plastic ones, though they tended to be fairly uniform in colour. The birds, though, they came in all different colours and it was fascinating to look at.

"What if we got a pet?"

"No." Malik said. "It's not practical. What would we do when we're away?"

"Your brother could take care of it."

"Kadar might kill it. And he's not always going to be around either. At least I can leave the plants with enough water to last until we get back."

"But--"

"No, no pets."

~ + ~

They stayed out until evening but as they were going back to their hotel by the MTR, Malik tugged tugged on his arm as the announcement said, _the next station is Admiralty_ with a vaguely British accent.

"Come on."

Without bothering to point out that this wasn't the stop for their hotel, Altair followed Malik as he pushed his way towards the doors with the light lit up above the words, "Please exit this side".

"Where are we going?" He asked as the announcement reminded them to "please mind the gap" as they stepped off the subway train.

"There's that LED rose garden display, remember? I thought we'd go check it out."

Altair smirked, and changed his pace so he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Malik, "Hey, wasn't there a murder in a building near there?"

"Well, I'm sure they're not there any more." Malik gave Altair a sidelong look, "who would go back so soon after committing a crime?"

~ + ~

They had passed by the roses the day before, but they hadn't been lit yet and they only looked like plastic roses stuck into the ground. Now, with the sky dark (or as dark as it could be when all around them the buildings were lit up), the roses had been lit up and they were, Altair had to admit, quite a sight.

"It was smart of them to have planned to set it up in time for Valentine's Day." Though that particular holiday had long passed. In the darkness of night, with the light of these roses, the people amongst them were almost only silouhettes, too dark for anyone to make out any features. It made holding hands feel more intimate now than it had earlier in the day when they were surrounded by a thick crowd. Then Malik's hand slipped out of his and there was a brief flash from beside him as Malik turned on his phone's screen.

Altair chuckled, "What? Are we going to take a selfy?" They wouldn't be the only ones. Not too far away, there was a girl and her boyfriend taking one with a selfy stick.

"No." Malik closed his phone and pocketed it again before taking Altair's hand. "Let's go this way."

"Okay," Altair said but it wasn't in agreement, "what's going on?"

But Malik only smiled at him (the way he did when he was nervous but also excited) and, even after all these years, it still made Altair's heart skip a beat to know it was _for him_. "You'll see. Now come on."

They turned into another path created between the roses and Altair thought he recognized the silhouette that walked out of the path at the other end.

"Isn't that the one who picked us up at the airport? Her name was..." Foreign names were always harder, but Altair always had a good memory for names, "Shao Jun, right?"

Malik shrugged, "I wouldn't be surprised. She does live in this city." There was nothing hurried about how Malik was leading him which meant that whatever was happening wasn't time sensitive. But Malik wasn't telling anything so it meant Altair had to figure it out himself.

There were no tells in the way Malik walked. His footsteps did not slow and his grip on Altair's hand did not change at any point (these habits were bad for their trade), but Altair stopped when he spotted something different on the edge of the lit up roses, just beyond the roped fence to keep people from walking through the roses.

Altair looked at Malik (whose face gave away nothing), then back at what looked like an unlit rose lying on its side. It was wrapped like a bouquet, with a card laying beside it.

"Am I allowed to take it?" But he was already letting go of Malik's hand to do just that.

"Well, I did pay for it." Malik said dryly. Altair chuckled. He opened the card before standing up, using the light of the roses to read what was written on it.

It said, "blow on it".

"Blow on it?" Altair asked as he stood up and gave Malik, who had a hand in his pocket, an amused look.

Malik nodded. Then he asked, as if he were serious, "You do understand what that means, don't you?"

There was a brief chuckle from Altair in response.

"I do." Altair could have asked what it was supposed to do, but this whole thing was something Malik had never done, so he decided it was worth just seeing where this went. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath then gently blew it against the rose.

As he did it lit up like the others, just as brightly. He chuckled, "Finally a plant even I can't kill?"

"Something like that." Malik said, but Altair wasn't looking at him. Now that the rose was lit, it seemed like there was something else inside of the flower. It was a shadow, round and thin like a--

Altair suddenly looked up and Malik was smiling that same smile at him as he stepped closer. (The entire plan had counted on Altair's eyes, as sharp as any eagle's, to spot the small things that were amiss. And he didn't disappoint.)

By the time Malik was close enough to put his arm around his waist, Altair was still gaping at him.

"Well?" He said against Altair's ear, "what are you waiting for?"

Looking back down at the flower in his hand, still shining brightly and the black shape highlighted against the white of the rose, he brought his other hand up to gently dig between the petals in the middle. He had to squint briefly when the petals partned enough that the light shone through unhibited. Then the petals returned to their original places as Altair pulled out a ring.

Still pressed close, Malik put his chin on Altair's shoulder. "Altair," The soft call of his name made him turn his head. "Will you marry me?"

(Malik did not usually do these things, but, just like with everything else, he certainly doesn't half-ass it when he does do it.)


End file.
